1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technology that cleans the nozzle forming surface of a discharge head which discharges liquid, and, in particular, to a technology that performs wiping with a wiping member on the nozzle forming surface using cleaning liquid.
2. Related Art
In the related art, a liquid discharging apparatus, such as an ink jet printer, which discharges liquid, such as ink or the like, from the nozzles of a discharge head is known. In such an apparatus, there is a case in which the liquid discharged from the nozzles adheres to the nozzle forming surface of the discharge head. If the liquid adheres to the nozzle forming surface, there is a problem in that the liquid is not appropriately discharged from the nozzles, thereby causing deterioration of image quality. Here, various technologies for removing liquid which adheres to the nozzle forming surface of a discharge head are proposed.
For example, a head cleaning apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2009-233896 is provided with a cleaning unit, which includes an ejecting unit that ejects cleaning liquid onto a nozzle forming surface and a wiping member, in order to remove liquid which adheres to the nozzle forming surface. Further, when the nozzle forming surface is cleaned, a discharge head is moved in a direction which is retracted from a platen. When the discharge head passes through a region which the cleaning unit in the process faces, the cleaning liquid is ejected onto the nozzle forming surface by the ejecting unit and a wiping member wipes the nozzle forming surface, and thus the nozzle forming surface is cleaned.
Here, in order to effectively clean the nozzle forming surface using the cleaning liquid, it is necessary that the cleaning liquid is sufficiently spread on the nozzle forming surface. However, in the head cleaning mechanism disclosed in JP-A-2009-233896, after the cleaning liquid is ejected onto the nozzle forming surface, the wiping member wipes the nozzle forming surface one time in one direction, with the result that the cleaning liquid is not sufficiently spread thereon, and thus there is a problem in that effective cleaning is not performed.